Augmented reality is an industry that is growing in every way. We see EDITH in the newest Spider-Man movie, we see the US Army and Navy adopting AR headsets into their training, and we seven see it on our own phones now. For the most part, all of these functions have been for the utilities of this technology and not for the fun of it. Snapchat is changing that with the latest Snapchat Spectacles 3.
The Spectacles 3 will feature a duel camera setup that is designed to give your 3D videos depth and interpretation of the environment around you. The AR glasses are designed to film Snapchat videos in the first-person view, and then uploaded directly to the Snapchat App from your Spectacles. From there, you are going to be adding multiple 3D effects and layers of graphics on top of your photo or video. If you are familiar with the mobile app, you will notice they are similar to the way you would add filters, but instead you are adding immersive graphics and 3D effects.
We have seen a handful of effects you can add, such as confetti falling around you, different studio lighting in your environment, and even birds that swarm around you while you go about your activities. You are not going to be limited to what you can add. All of this will be dependent on your creativity and your ability to imagine an altered world with your glasses.
The 3D photos that are going to be taken with the third versions of spectacles is also impressive. The depth is going to look truly 3D, something we haven seen from the Spectacles in previous models. If photos and videos weren’t enough, making GIF’s is also going to be an option for Spectacle owners and user. If none of these make the cut to your Snapchat Story or your friends, they can always be saved and exported out of the app for any other use. That is the same for anything captured in the Snapchat app as well.
A spokesperson for Snap, the company responsible for bringing the Spectacle 3, told Techradar that “Similar to the lens carousel that you currently see within Snapchat where you can scroll through different lenses, we’ll be rolling out new creative on a regular cadence that will interact with spectacles content with that depth. We’ll also have a suite of content tools that we’ll be regularly updating enabling and empowering people to create their own.”
As great as all of this sounds, keep in mind these aren’t typical AR glasses. None of these effects will be visible through the glasses themselves, and the cameras won’t project anything either. The glasses are great for protecting your eyes from the sun, but that’s about it for functionality while being worn. If you are looking for something like that can augment your everyday life, check out the Hololens 2 or the Magic Leap One. Both of these options are top of the line AR headsets.
“We will continue to focus on developing our content, gaming, and augmented reality platforms to enhance the Snapchat experience for our community,” Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said in a memo obtained by Reuters. It is clear that Snapchat is focused on becoming more than just a place for people to share photos privately, but also a place for advancements in the industry. The potential for this app is through the roof, as almost every device in the world has downloaded it just to try it out at least once. The outreach is already groundbreaking, and what to come is unprecedented.
